Supporting the unemployed to get online in rural areas

About NCDN Supporting people who support communities Networking and partnership-working Targeting groups experiencing discrimination Creating a voice for and with excluded people Skills and Learning Information – sharing Employability specialist – Dyscovered Digital Inclusion project

Our Digital Inclusion Projects

Key Facts about Northumberland Home to 316,000 people and covers an area 5013km2 With 97% of its area classed as rural, the county is sparsely populated with 63 people per km2 Half of the county’s population live in the 3% of urban land found in the south east of the county In-migration keeps the county’s population growing 9,000 residents (3%) classify themselves an non-white with the greatest number of these being Asian 30% of the adult population are economically inactive Unemployment levels are broadly consistent with the national average Almost one in ten of the population live in one of the most deprived areas of England

Connectivity NCDN works with iNorthumberland in a partnership initiative with the aim of bringing superfast broadband to homes and businesses across the county. The map shows the current state of play, and illustrates the extent of the issues for people living in deep rural areas.

Rural unemployment Transport and access Accessibility of training /work / apprenticeships Casual / low paid work NE focus on growth businesses Housing issues for young people leaving home 55+ age group growing Over 17,000 sanctions in Northumberland

Barriers and Challenges Connectivity Too sparsely spread to sustain groups Village culture – difficult to disclose Rural / urban divide Lack of local specialist support e.g. for unemployed people with additional learning needs Welfare reform changes too much to take in at once Our volunteers’ knowledge and experience Volunteer travel

Example from our blog... A lady has been unable to attend other sessions due to poor transport, last week she did manage to call into the Post office to ask if an earlier session could be held on the morning other sessions are held. But she can only stay for approx. 45 mins due to transport problems. The digital volunteer agreed but now the session / travel take over 8 hrs. volunteers/digital-volunteer-blog/ volunteers/digital-volunteer-blog/

Universal Job Match Access to online facilities Access to equipment Connectivity Access to print facilities Support for following up Access to ‘local’ job opportunities Other needs of less literate clients Volunteer knowledge

Some Solutions 1 to 1 sensitive local support Linked in to wider employability support programmes including employer engagement Volunteer training to broaden role Targeted pro-active interventions at critical moments as they are introduced Local Partnership – JobCentre Plus, Libraries, food banks, community projects, cafes, private sector Mobile services Option for tracking progress offline

Contacts Julia Lyford, Coordinator